Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will remain at Haas next year, the team have confirmed.
Team principal Guenther Steiner said the duo, who are on course to have 350 race starts between them when the 2024 Formula 1 season begins, had proved “an extremely solid driver pairing this season”.“There was no reason to look to change that,” Steiner added.
Magnussen will enter his seventh season with the team. He has driven for them every year since 2017 with the exception of 2021. He returned last year as an 11th-hour replacement for Nikita Mazepin, who was dropped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Kevin is obviously a very well-known quantity to us,” said Steiner. “With 113 starts for our team alone, we know where his strengths lie and his knowledge and experience of our organisation pairs very well with that too.”
Hulkenberg returned to F1 with Haas this year in his first full-time drive since being dropped by Renault at the end of 2019. He has especially impressed the team with his qualifying performances.
“Nico’s simply slotted in without fuss or fanfare and proved himself to be a valuable member of the team. He’s approaching 200 starts in F1 and we’re very happy to be the beneficiary of that experience behind the wheel,” announced the team.
Haas have kept the faith in their driver line-up despite a somewhat disappointing season to date. They have combined scored 11 points, less than one-third of the tally Haas had after the first 12 grands prix last year, as both drivers have found the VF-23 tends to degrade its tyres heavily in race trim.
“We’ve had to tackle our issues this season with regards to the VF-23, we don’t hide from that, but we’ve been extremely fortunate to have had two drivers whose feedback is invaluable in assisting our engineering objectives,” said Steiner.
“Kevin and Nico gelled well right from the get-go and together they’ve both scored points, and in particular, Nico has excelled in qualifying – getting into Q3 on six occasions. Having not raced in F1 full-time since 2019 that shows you just how professional he is and how he’s looked after himself physically.”
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notagrumpyfan
24th August 2023, 9:19
I understand they want to keep Hulkenberg.
Todfod (@todfod)
24th August 2023, 14:14
There aren’t any half decent options to replace Magnussen with.. so I guess sticking to a know quantity is the only option they had.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th August 2023, 18:19
YEah, I don’t think Magnussen is getting things to work for him right now, but on the other hand, Haas really has different areas to focus on and once they get the car working somewhat predictable and for longer distances, I am sure that Hulk and K-Mag will do a good job with it.
Anyway, they know Magnussen, understand his feedback and as Todfod mentions, there aren’t really any quick drivers who bring a budget and enough experience to be able to guide the team (since Haas is useless working with a rookie, since both would be clueless what to do)
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
24th August 2023, 10:38
Fine with me.
The longer Hulkenberg is in F1 the stronger his grip on one of two records.
He either sets one hell of a record for most races without a podium.
Or he finally gets on the podium and sets a hell of a record for most races without a podium.
He can’t lose ;)
Jere (@jerejj)
24th August 2023, 10:50
As I expected & could see coming for a few months, & this outcome additionally proves the claims about Gio & co. were all unfounded fake rumors.
elchinero (@elchinero)
24th August 2023, 14:39
Go with a “known” known. Not some oligarchy’s kid. WAJ.
Jere (@jerejj)
24th August 2023, 16:22
Indeed
MichaelN
24th August 2023, 10:58
Uninspired. Long gone are the days when backmarker teams took a chance on a young guy with potential. Why not bring in someone like Drugovich or Pourchaire and see what they can do. Piastri certainly doesn’t seem like he’s having a hard time just a dozen races in, even if Red Bull said Tsunoda needs three years to get up to speed… for whatever reason (definitely not Honda). Although apparently that doesn’t apply to De Vries.
Jere (@jerejj)
24th August 2023, 12:40
De Vries’ case is different because of his vast previous professional racing experience, so he wasn’t an average rookie.
PS: I accidentally clicked ‘report comment’
Dex
24th August 2023, 14:10
I don’t think either of those two show promise the way Piastri did to begin with. Before teams had their reasons to gamble on youngsters (one young talent to “sell” to bigger teams, one pay driver to finance the operation in the mean time). Now they aren’t forced to take risks and they aren’t desperate for money. We’re in such phase until things change. Haas can’t “sell” talents (they already have contracts with senior teams, even if they don’t drive in F1), they have no ambition to win or compete for anything at all (that’s got to do with the owner’s own mentality) and they are happy just where they are. They don’t make or design their own cars, they already sold their name to Alfa Romeo, they never had exciting drivers or above average talents, they have no fans and no passion for the sport. The owner is a pure businessman who cares more about American racing and uses F1 for marketing purposes only, his right hand who takes care of the team is also from business and without passion for sport… That team is doomed to be sold, and it should be.
Greg
24th August 2023, 17:08
More often than not the “young guy with potential” is also a pay driver and now even smaller teams seem to be stable enough, from a financial point of view, that they don’t have much pressure to get pay drivers… or even sell their teams to someone with a lot of money (the fact that Porsche and Andretti had so much trouble finding someone willing to sell speaks volumes)
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
25th August 2023, 13:12
Quite the opposite. There’s a strong argument that the “young guys” get thrust into F1 – when they’re not ready.
We’ve been spoilt in recent years with Norris/Russell/Albon etc set. But really, since then only Pastri has shown that he was worth the risk – so that’s one driver in around four seasons.
I fail to see why you think a team owner, should give a rookie a chance, just because they’re a rookie. It’s arguable that neither KMag (who I never really used to like) or The Hulk, should never have been kicked out of F1 in the first place and certainly there’s an argument to say either would have done as good as Perez (who I like by the way) at RB.
Coventry Climax
24th August 2023, 11:11
Nothing unexpected about this. The drivers don’t have any other options really, and neither has Haas, given how it operates. So they’re a decent match, all in all.
If anything though, I’d like to see them, both drivers and team, to start showing a more ambition, more vision even. It’s all so mediocre and they appear to just be happy with that.
When I hear Steiner say the drivers are “invaluable in assisting our engineering objectives” that makes me laugh actually. What engineering objectives? It would actually be time if they’d start to really define some.
Greg
24th August 2023, 17:13
Objective #1. Avoid last place in the standing.
Objective #2. Do Obj#1 as cheaply as possible.
End
slowmo (@slowmo)
24th August 2023, 11:24
Think they’d have been better getting a new talent in and keeping only one but given their record with rookies, it’s perhaps for the best they don’t. Neither driver has really excelled but neither have they been underwhelming. Until Haas show more actual desire to compete and advance on the grid, the drivers will make only minimal difference.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
24th August 2023, 20:57
Yes, goes for alpine too: a constantly mediocre team doesn’t really need better than average drivers.
Gary Simmons (@gsimmonsonca)
24th August 2023, 12:51
Colour me surprised, but OK… Solid but uninspiring drivers. I usually expect the lower down teams to take on at least one rookie looking for that next superstar.
Patrick (@paeschli)
24th August 2023, 13:09
I always liked Hulkenberg so happy to see him stay. I doubt the 2024 Haas will help him get that elusive podium though…
Todfod (@todfod)
24th August 2023, 14:12
Would be mega if Haas and Hulkenberg break the podium duck together.
pastaman
24th August 2023, 13:20
The only way they would take a rookie is if it was a Ferrari junior and there was some lucrative deal associated with it. Otherwise, there’s not a single reason for them to field a rookie. “For the fans” or “to give someone a chance” are not good enough reasons.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
24th August 2023, 13:36
Not a surprise really. I guess they are not scoring many points anyway at the moment so why engage a rookie and perhaps score even less. There is no financial incentive for them to do this.
It’s a bit boring having a team being happy to be mediocre though. Not showing mush ambition are they? I don’t think that changing pilots would have helped this though.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
24th August 2023, 13:37
‘Mush’? Much ambition I meant.
S
24th August 2023, 14:09
What should they do differently? Spend more money? That’s essentially what it comes down to, doesn’t it…
Financial investment seems to be the main and most common metric used to describe how serious an F1 team is.
I’d quickly run out of fingers and toes if I counted all the times someone has said “Well, they should just get more/wealthier sponsors and spend more money” – as though it was that simple and the team had never thought of that themselves.
Anyway, we could say the same about other teams in the past, long before F1 was financially safe for slower teams. Minardi were perennial backmarkers, for example – and yet they were one of the most passionate and driven bunches of people that ever participated in F1…
Bo
24th August 2023, 15:56
I’m happy to see this. Both drivers are experienced drivers, and deserve a seat in the F1 series. It’s the damn car that needs to get sorted. No rookie can fix that anyway, and Haas can’t afford to spend money training yet another rookie. Mazepin and Schumacher destroyed more than they gave back to the team in experience.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
25th August 2023, 13:14
Puzzled by some of the reactions, which basically amount to them taking an enormous risk on a youngster – just because they’re bored of KMag / The Hulk.
It’s F1, not YTS racing.